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I did it. I touched grass

@headspace-hotel

22 | she/her | autism with personhood | writing, reading, questions, creatures, plants | hope going on the internet and reading my posts inspires you to go on the outernet and read non-posts

Where did the whopping huge meteor come down? I assume if there are core samples, we know where it was, and maybe there are remnants of it?

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Chicxulub Puerto, Yucatan, Mexico, fucking exactly

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also the people of Chicxulub Puerto are fully aware of this, and even created a memorial for all of dinosaurkind on their own dime!

and personally, I think this single heartfelt block of concrete is more fitting than any number of sleek expensive monoliths in the world's best museums.

at an unremarkable time in this unremarkable place, the world ended, once. it's good to remember that.

Oh...man...

Nectar-loving tree frog likely moves pollen from flower to flower

The creamy fruit and nectar-rich flowers of the milk fruit tree are irresistible to Xenohyla truncata, a tree frog native to Brazil. On warm nights, the dusky-colored frogs take to the trees en masse, jostling one another for a chance to nibble the fruit and slurp the nectar. In the process, the frogs become covered in sticky pollen grains—and might inadvertently pollinate the plants, too. It’s the first time a frog—or any amphibian—has been observed pollinating a plant, researchers reported last month in Food Webs.

Scientists long thought only insects and birds served as pollinators, but research has revealed that some reptiles and mammals are more than up to the task. Now, scientists must consider whether amphibians are also capable of getting the job done. It’s likely that the nectar-loving frogs, also known as Izecksohn’s Brazilian tree frogs, are transferring pollen as they move from flower to flower, the authors say. But more research is needed, they add, to   confirm that frogs have joined the planet’s pantheon of pollinators.

Source: science.org

am i insane or should masks be mandated for hospitals as a permanent installation. a forever institution. always. covid is an irrelevant factor when hospitals are always full of both very sick and very immunocompromised people..?

The Lego Movie is something that only happens once in life because you cannot recreate the experience of being dragged to “stupid marketing ploy to sell plastic bricks to 5 year olds” and 90 minutes later come out of “surreal cosmic horror comedy about the existential dread of artistic expression and the meaning of free will with commentary on capitalist oligarchy. To sell plastic bricks to 5 year olds.”

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"you only deserve food and shelter if you contribute to society" says people living in countries where nobody's labor actually feeds or benefits their neighbors anymore but exclusively benefits the companies keeping the food and shelter behind the artificial paywalls

You're not nomads relying on each other to hunt and gather anymore, you're talking about stocking shelves for fucking wal marts

And even the oldest societies on earth all took care of the elderly or sick anyway

listen i love and grow and appreciate native plants as much as any plant ecology nerd but good god the energy of a lot of native plant discussion on social media continues to be so............ much

all the replies to this are wonderful and exactly what I mean.

I guess my biggest difficulty with the energy of native plant activism is the idea that we can buy our way into saving the native environment in our own individual yards. We can't. Not really. Not as the sole effort of ecology work. We can't just buy the right plants and pull the naughty plants and save the day. Not even as a network of people all doing the same things in their yards.

If you ever find yourself thinking, "I like these ideas in principle, but the way people discuss them on social media..." pause! that is a good prompt to remember that social media is intentionally designed to promote simplistic, inflammatory content. It is a terrible place to learn.

It doesn't matter what the subject is, whether it's horses, knitting, soap making, or Star Wars, the same sort of inflammatory, judgmental, fractious discourse will arise on social media because that's the way social media is made.

The idea that we can save the planet by buying stuff (even if that stuff is plants) is what I call "buyproductism." I made that word up, so there's no need to google it for more information. Buyproductism is when you see Buying Product as your primary way of impacting the world.

This is why my IRL work revolves around giving away free plants and community building so there is a larger network of plant giving-away, and why I teach others to collect their own seeds and transplant their own seedlings.

Plants are free, it's in their nature.

The point of growing native plants is not just to have native plants for yourself and some local bugs to enjoy. It is also VERY important to pot up the volunteers and give them away as gifts, and plant or give away the seeds, or scatter them in some neglected place.

Community building! MORE PLANTS!

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Just read your plastic bug review ( absolutely delightful!) and Id love to hear your mosquito hot takes if you have the time.

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Well there's a viral lie that they're ecologically valueless and of course, no, there's really no such thing, and their importance goes far beyond just another food for insect-eaters, but that's more "scientific facts" than "hot takes" so as far as "hot takes" go:

  • They're both beautiful and cute animals, more charming than butterflies.
  • The fact that they're bothersome vampires is part of the charm, it's just plain cool that our planet has swarms of night-flying blood-sucking swamp creatures.
  • I completely reject their status as "deadliest animal" on the basis that a mosquito by itself is irritating but inherently harmless. The diseases they can carry are distinct organisms that evolved to exploit the mosquito as a vehicle. It is worth noting that only a few mosquito species can even transmit illnesses to humans at all!
  • Speaking of which I notice people are quick to defend bats, raccoons, rats and other more popular animals that can spread disease, but use mosquito borne illness as justification to want mosquitoes totally eradicated, and I think that's pretty transparently a matter of petty spite. Take away the diseases and the mosquito is still an "inconvenience," however harmless, and humans just have a very difficult time with the reality that nature does not exist for our comfort and fun.
  • Can't help noticing that research into just killing them all off gets more attention and funding than the equally viable and environmentally safer research into simply making them inhospitable to pathogens, and I'm sure that's driven partially by the above biases, but partially because there's probably money and clout in being the one to reduce Pesky Bugs from popular tourist destinations like Florida.
  • Even having said all of the above, an animal never needs to be harmless, pleasant, or ecologically "essential" to be worthy of admiration. Each is a unique and special sculpture of evolution and a "character" in the vast varied cast of living organisms. Some of them are allowed to be bad guys. Some of them are allowed to just be background filler. The total sum of the different forms taken by life on our planet is what's precious about life on our planet, including every part of it anyone has ever feared or hated.
  • wiggleys:
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Something I learned when researching pesticides is that the use of pesticides to kill mosquitoes in areas where mosquito borne illnesses are prevalent has led to them evolving resistance, and to pesticides contaminating the environment so much they've been found in human breast milk.

Releasing genetically modified mosquitoes that can't spread malaria >>>>>>>>> trying to kill off mosquitoes with pesticides that have a variety of harms to the environment and humans

I love seeing "self-care" posts that are full of great ideas like drinking water and eating food and generally meeting your bodily needs, and they also say something like "go to bed at 9:00 pm"

My life experiences have shown me that if I feel like going to bed before 11:00 pm, this means one of a few things:

  • I'm getting the flu
  • I'm off my meds
  • I'm about to have a total mental breakdown from stress and exhaustion

Right but these are all times when you're doing it as a natural response to other stressors. Go to bed at 9pm to take care of yourself, when you're not at your worst. Then you might not have that break down or at least you'll have the energy to handle it better

You're missing what I'm trying to say here.

If I went to bed at 9pm it would accomplish nothing but giving me a miserable 4 hours of lying in bed vibrating with restlessness.

As a child and a young teenager I had persistent, incurable insomnia. I would lie in bed every night for hours unable to sleep and it was awful. I also woke up in the middle of the night sometimes multiple times.

Then, around the time I was 15-16 or so, I started staying up later (going to bed around 12:30) and my insomnia magically disappeared. I started falling asleep within 15 minutes of getting in bed.

This is soooo true. Sometimes you need the Comfy Time, not sleeping just resting and making space for calm. I love taking some time for the Comfy Time it's so blissful

I love seeing "self-care" posts that are full of great ideas like drinking water and eating food and generally meeting your bodily needs, and they also say something like "go to bed at 9:00 pm"

My life experiences have shown me that if I feel like going to bed before 11:00 pm, this means one of a few things:

  • I'm getting the flu
  • I'm off my meds
  • I'm about to have a total mental breakdown from stress and exhaustion

Right but these are all times when you're doing it as a natural response to other stressors. Go to bed at 9pm to take care of yourself, when you're not at your worst. Then you might not have that break down or at least you'll have the energy to handle it better

You're missing what I'm trying to say here.

If I went to bed at 9pm it would accomplish nothing but giving me a miserable 4 hours of lying in bed vibrating with restlessness.

As a child and a young teenager I had persistent, incurable insomnia. I would lie in bed every night for hours unable to sleep and it was awful. I also woke up in the middle of the night sometimes multiple times.

Then, around the time I was 15-16 or so, I started staying up later (going to bed around 12:30) and my insomnia magically disappeared. I started falling asleep within 15 minutes of getting in bed.

ironically when my abusive roommate in college tried to "fix" my sleep schedule, for a couple months afterward I struggled to sleep and was regularly awake until 5am after lying in bed for hours

(this was partly because I had to wait for her to fall asleep to be able to eat, but still.)

I love seeing "self-care" posts that are full of great ideas like drinking water and eating food and generally meeting your bodily needs, and they also say something like "go to bed at 9:00 pm"

My life experiences have shown me that if I feel like going to bed before 11:00 pm, this means one of a few things:

  • I'm getting the flu
  • I'm off my meds
  • I'm about to have a total mental breakdown from stress and exhaustion

Right but these are all times when you're doing it as a natural response to other stressors. Go to bed at 9pm to take care of yourself, when you're not at your worst. Then you might not have that break down or at least you'll have the energy to handle it better

You're missing what I'm trying to say here.

If I went to bed at 9pm it would accomplish nothing but giving me a miserable 4 hours of lying in bed vibrating with restlessness.

As a child and a young teenager I had persistent, incurable insomnia. I would lie in bed every night for hours unable to sleep and it was awful. I also woke up in the middle of the night sometimes multiple times.

Then, around the time I was 15-16 or so, I started staying up later (going to bed around 12:30) and my insomnia magically disappeared. I started falling asleep within 15 minutes of getting in bed.

I love seeing "self-care" posts that are full of great ideas like drinking water and eating food and generally meeting your bodily needs, and they also say something like "go to bed at 9:00 pm"

My life experiences have shown me that if I feel like going to bed before 11:00 pm, this means one of a few things:

  • I'm getting the flu
  • I'm off my meds
  • I'm about to have a total mental breakdown from stress and exhaustion

Right but these are all times when you're doing it as a natural response to other stressors. Go to bed at 9pm to take care of yourself, when you're not at your worst. Then you might not have that break down or at least you'll have the energy to handle it better

You're missing what I'm trying to say here.

If I went to bed at 9pm it would accomplish nothing but giving me a miserable 4 hours of lying in bed vibrating with restlessness.